I went to school for a couple years in Tennessee having grown up in West Virginia. As is typical of college kids, we would sometimes sit in a dark room and tell ghost stories. (Even at a Christian college!) There was one friend of mine who would leave the room when I would tell a story because she said they were so frightening. I adapted most of my tales from Ruth Ann Musick's books. So of course, when I saw this book, I was curious.Wild & Wonderful (and Paranormal) West Virginia exceeded all expectations I had. Unlike other books, it didn't just deal with one subject, but included The Moth Man, Flatwoods Monster, UFOs, ghosts, Sheepsquatch (which I had never before heard anything about it) and also included other strange phenomenon and cryptozoological mysteries from across the Mountain State.
The thing set this book apart from others in this genre is that the author tried to give multiple explanations when possible, and some of them seemed quite plausible to me. For instance, there have been reports of kangaroos getting loose from zoos and other places, so who is to say some of these monsters might not be part of a pack of kangaroos that live in a remote part of West Virginia? Obviously, he also leaves open the possibility for paranormal occurrences, but I really enjoyed reading the different theories.
He also ties in ideas of these creatures from other places and cultures, to allow the reader to form an opinion as to if they might be related.
The reference section is quite long, so this was a researched book instead of just someone sitting down and telling stories they heard.
If you are interested in paranormal, I recommend this book. If you would like "answers" to paranormal, I encourage you to read this book to help form your own opinions. And if you are a life long West Virginian, I think you would love this book because who in this state hasn't experienced something just a little odd -- or very unusual -- at one time or another?
You can read a sample here:
No comments:
Post a Comment